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Skippack Historical Society |
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LOCATED IN EVANSBURG STATE PARK As we put together a history of this old house and learn about the people who lived there, we also become aware of the history of the Skippack Village. German immigrants Gerhard Indenhofen and his brother Herman built this house around 1725. Gerhard was 19 years old when the boys purchased 440 acres from Mathias Van Bebber in 1706. The original deed (Phila. Book E3 6:40, 24, Oct. 1706, 440ac., 88 £-s) indicates that this encompassed the whole village of Skippack. The stone was carried from quarries along the Skippack Creek a little south of the house. The mortar was a simple mixture of Skippack red clay and lime held together by horse hair and rope and sometimes straw. Looking at the inside of the house, these rudimentary ingredients seem to be doing a decent job of holding the stones in place even today.
On October 8, 1706, Gerhard and his brother Herman bought 440 acres in Skippack from Mennonite Mathias Van Bebber for a consideration that is not mentioned in the deed.4 The brothers separated on May 2, 1723, Gerhard kept the property in Skippack and Herman moved to Lower Providence.5 The house was built circa 1725 and bears resemblance to a few of the other early houses along the Skippack Creek in the stonework signature. In 1736 Gerhard had a grist mill built on the property that he rented to Felix Good. In 1743, he applied for a license to keep a "public house" ![]() General George Washington and his 10,000 continentals marched past in 1777 to camp along the Skippack Creek and probably gazed upon this stone house only it was about half this size. Above is a photo taken of the Indenhofen Farm House before restoration work by the Skippack Historical Society began. The summer kitchen is on the left and the main house on the right.
Move mouse over footnote numbers above to display sources. Property owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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